UK: 14-year-old girl becomes first British child to be cryogenically frozen

The girl believed that she would be brought back to life after 200 years.

14-year-old girl becomes first British child to be cryogenically frozen Pictured: French Professor Luc Douay stands next to a cryogenic tank for blood storage at the French Blood Service building in Creteil near Paris September 2, 2011.Reuters

A 14-year-old British girl recently became the first British child to be cryogenically frozen after her death due to cancer. The High Court in the UK had ruled in favour of her plea to freeze her so that she can be woken up when the technology is at an advanced stage.

"I don't want to die, but I know I am going to. I want to live longer. I want to have this chance," the girl had written to the court.

The case went to court as her divorced parents did not agree on freezing her after death. Her mother was in favour, but her father was not. The girl asked the court to rule that only her mother can make decisions regarding disposal of her body, the Telegraph reported.

"I'm dying, but I'm going to come back again in 200 years," she told a relative after the ruling came through in her favour.

After spending hours on tackling the details of the freezing process, which was reportedly disorganised and caused concern to the hospital staff, her body was taken to the US after her death on October 17.

She is one of 10 Britishers who have been frozen till date and the only British child to have gone through the process.

The judge and the medical staff expressed concerns over the process, which is legal, but unregulated in the country. The judge said that there was need for "proper regulation."

"We expect that future regulation will help hospitals to know where they stand legally and procedurally. The opportunity to utilise professional medical assistance may increase as we become a recognised and regulated field," said a spokesperson of Cryonics UK, the non-profit organisation that readied her body to be sent to the US.